...is an ambitious training and development project for a variety of artists practicing puppetry. Supported by the Arts Council England, the programme of initiatives is masterminded by a Panel of experienced puppet theatre practitioners, educationalists and programmers.

The programme comprises three elements, tailored to offer support to a range of artists at different stages in their professional development. Click on the links below for more information on Animating the Animators events.

Bursaries: PCT's bursary scheme is intended to facilitate the development of puppetry. The bursary supports artists of exceptional potential to explore under-developed areas of puppetry whilst also furthering their professional development. This year The Puppet Centre is offering two bursaries of £2500 for emerging practitioners. Applicants, who must be professional artists are asked to devise a work programme aimed to develop themselves and their practice. Applications are assessed by portfolio and interview by the panel leading the Animating the Animators programme.

Application for the 2007/8 bursaries is now open. The Guidelines and Application form can be downloaded below.

A further bursary of £7500 has been awarded this year to Nenagh Watson in recognition of her work with doo-cot over the last 18 years. She will be exploring contemporary responses to the Punch and Judy tradition. This marks a shift in the way in which larger bursaries are managed, with recipients being sought out and a research proposal devised in collaboration with the Puppet Centre Trust. Due to a significant decrease in applications from established artists last year we are undertaking some research into how those bursaries might be better managed. We are considering a range of options including offering the bursary as an award without an application process or maintaining the application process but specifying a theme each year. We'd like to hear your views. If you have an idea of how we might better manage a large bursary scheme for practitioners with over 10 years experience please email Natalie at pct@puppetcentre.org.uk.

PCT Bursary Scheme Guidelines 2007/08

PCT Bursary Scheme Application form 2007/08

Previous recipients

Ramon Abad

Mervyn Millar

Previous Award Winners

Workshops: a touring cycle of one-day workshops focusing on core skills for artists using puppetry:

• Mask and Movement.
• Vocal Skills.
• Educational Puppetry

The workshop programme ran May - June 2005 across three venues, Manchester Royal Exchange; Midland Arts Centre and BAC and was designed for those seeking to consolidate new skills within their practice or as a refresher course for key approaches.

Masterclasses: a series of one day sessions offering insight to the work of international masters of the artform performing at festivals across the country. Each session aims to address a diverse approach to puppetry and the series has been programmed as follows:

• Teatro Marionetas do Porto: Joao Paulo Seara Cardosa - Puppetry and movement / Puppetry and Contemporary theatre-making. Visions, October 2004
  
• Animata: Stephen Mottram – The Logic of Movement: communicating meaning through manipulation. London International Mime Festival, January 2005.
  
• Stuffed Puppet: Neville Tranter - Lip Synching and Vocal Skills Masterclass. Bath International Puppet Festival, March 2005.
  
• Shadow Catchers : La Conica/Laconica - Shadow Puppetry Masterclass. Norwich International Puppet Festival, October 2005.

In addition, as part of the masterclass series, PCT commissioned two master puppeteer trainers to run a series of sessions introducing the possibilities of puppetry to the range of FE and HE students based at the National Student Drama Festival 2005.